As youth and interscholastic sports evolve, so too do the methods coaches use to develop athletes. While ‘old school’ coaches were often known for their loud voices and intimidating presence, they also emphasized fundamentals such as attending every practice, being on time, maintaining a positive attitude, and hustling at every opportunity. Players who demonstrated those qualities frequently earned playing time, even if their athletic ability alone might not have justified it. Today, increasingly more kids play multiple sports at the same time, posing new questions and decisions for coaches who still prioritize the values of old school coaching, but now deal with new coaching challenges.
Reward hard working kids & teach value of hard work
Today’s youth sport coaches deal with different issues than a generation ago, especially as this applies to kids and their prioritization and emphasis on commitment. While some kids are still focused on one team, increasingly more kids are competing on multiple teams at the same time, leaving coaches in a tough spot. How do today’s coaches deal with kids who only attend some of the practices? Or how do they respond to kids who are regularly late coming from another practice? And what do coaches do about kids who are so tired from their other team’s practice that their attitude suffers, and they can’t give 100% at practice because they are completely fatigued? Ordinarily, those players would lose playing time—but how can today’s coaches enforce rules and standards when, in reality, it may affect half the team?!
So many good things have happened with respect to coach education in recent years, especially as this applies to effective coaching styles, first aid, and mental health. The days of old coaches humiliating kids, or worse yet, being physical with kids, have been replaced by coaches today who are more educated about how to work with kids, more approachable, and more aware of potentially dangerous situations. While we have better prepared coaches today, perhaps what we did not see coming was the paradigm shift from one sport per season, to multiple sports during the same season. With so many kids going in so many directions today, it has presented new challenges for coaches who still prioritize commitment and accountability. How do coaches uphold those standards with kids who only partially prioritize their commitments to the team?
Another important angle to this discussion centers around the kids who do still attend all practices, hustle, and keep a great attitude. Specifically, should those hard-working, committed kids take a back seat to teammates who only attend some practices? What lesson is being sent to the committed kid who does everything that is asked of her, only to see her minutes be given to another girl who shows up half the time? Not only is the committed kid not being rewarded, the uncommitted kid is being rewarded for part-time practice. Does that sound fair to you?
We always talk about how many life skills and lessons kids learn through sports, with a special emphasis on things like time management, hustle, and having a positive attitude. In fact, many people would say those are the very best things that kids can experience while playing sports, and directly contribute to improved mental health. But what lessons are being modeled when kids see that their commitment and attitude is barely recognized, and they instead see kids only partially committed being rewarded with the most playing time? Kids pick up on this, and many begin thinking why even try if the coach is just going to play the more talented kids — regardless of their commitment level?
Final thoughts
Coaches today are not responsible for so many kids over-committing to sports teams today, and the related challenges they face are not easy to overcome. At the same time, the best answer is not to ignore what is happening, nor should coaches de-value kids who commit, while providing starting minutes to kids who only attend some of the practices. You might win a game or two with this strategy, but over time you will lose your team — and worse yet, provide a less-than-optimal experience for kids who really expected (and deserved) more.
drstankovich.com
